The Power of the Daily Huddle

Those clients who are actively and consistently conducting their daily huddles are reaping the rewards. However, isn’t it interesting that every time I introduce them, I am met with huge resistance. All the usual excuses – I’m too busy, the team won’t like it, what will we say?, it will become monotonous, there are only 3/4/5/10 of us – we speak every day anyway…and the list goes on.

So what’s the upside? After all, if it’s good enough for Goldman Sachs, Dell and the White House, then surely there’s got to be a good one?

Daily huddles provide focus, momentum, consistency, speed, a forum for communication, and they save you time, especially in fast moving businesses who are spinning loads of plates, where the owners and managers are spread the thinnest. As Verne Harnish, author of ‘ Mastering the Rockefeller Habits:What Yous Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm’ said ‘routine does indeed set you free’.

Consistent application of these short, sharp meetings keeps your daily tasks aligned to your most important goals and plan. Morale stays high, even under highly pressured situations, primarily because everyone knows exactly what is going on for each other and precisely what needs to happen right now.  There are much fewer interruptions throughout the course of the day, allowing for greater efficiency and effectiveness. And problems are escalated up the chain and dealt with so much more quickly – decisions are made faster and preventative measures can be taken before issues spiral out of control and impact upon customers, brand and the bottom line.

So, now you’re convinced of the importance of these daily meetings, here are some top tips to ensure they work:

1. Make them mandatory, and accept no excuses (from yourself too!) for lateness
2. Same time, same place every day.  I have found that just before a break can be a great time to ensure they start and end on time, and Verner recommend starting at a strange sort of time, like 10.07 as people are somehow better at being on time when it’s not on the hour
3. Keep them short – 10-15 mins maximum. This means you can’t go off track, or start debating and problem solving – stick with the facts.  If your meetings are face to face as opposed to over the phone or web, have them standing up.
4. Consistency of structure

• What’s happening – Each attendee to share what they’re up to (in the next 24 hours), highlighting any specifics
• Daily Measurements – Naturally aligned to this quarter’s primary goal, and highlighting anything out of the ordinary
• Bottlenecks – Letting the team know where you’re stuck – we’re looking for constraints here, so they can be resolved, and so that everyone is in the loop (if someone consistently is ‘everything’s fine’, that to me is a warning signal – dig deep and find the sticking points before you become unstuck!).  But, don’t make the mistake of descending into problem solving.

Something I’ve noticed about all types of relationships, and after all, a business is just a whole stack of relationships; is that communication really is the glue that holds everything together. When communication fails, or even just stalls, then everything else begins to crumble. A daily huddle is the surest, simplest way to get the right level of communication back in your business.

So go on, give it a try. And when you do, really and truly commit to it – remember…routine sets you free, and the faster you pulse, the quicker you’ll move.